Small group seeks to split from larger union

Contract proposals

Six bargaining units would be affected pending contract ratification by Aug. 25.

Tentative agreement

• County’s contribution toward workers’ retirement reduced by 4 percent over two years. That means workers would receive 4 percent less in their take home pay.

• Increased health care coverage

• A $750 payment in first year and a payment of 1 percent of a workers’ salary in year two.

Initial offer

• Workers to contribute an additional 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent toward their retirement over two years.

• Increased health care coverage

• One-time payment of 2 percent of base wages.

(This offer was accepted by workers in other SEIU units, outside units and nonunion employees), Source: SEIU, county employees

A small group of technicians, carpenters and electricians are moving to split from the county’s largest labor union over objections to a two-year contract now up for ratification.

The tentative agreement between San Diego County and the Service Employees International Union Local 221 applies to about 5,050 county employees. The proposal, which was sent to members for a vote, is less favorable to workers than one the union rejected earlier this year.

Now another vote, this one involving about 240 employees seeking to decertify from the union, also is drawing attention.

“We’re frustrated by the lack of leadership and representation offered by SEIU,” said Wally Gutierrez, interim chief steward of the newly formed Association of San Diego County Employees.

The growing rift between a small bargaining unit and its international parent has sent ripples through the ranks of the county’s roughly 15,000 workforce. Several employees have stepped up to criticize the union in the weeks since its bargaining team struck an agreement.

The difference between the initial offer and the one set for a vote pencils out to $991 a year for a technician, Gutierrez said.

SEIU President Eric Banks did not return messages seeking comment. He previously said the rejected offer would not maintain middle-class jobs or protect quality public services.

Frustration with the dominant union does not necessarily signal a broad revolt against SEIU. However, in 2009, probation officers broke away after disagreements over legal representation. Ernie Susi, president of the Probation Officer’s Association, said he wouldn’t cast stones at the union.

“Everybody does this for their own reasons,” Susi said. “We felt that we could do better on our own, but I don’t want to bad-mouth SEIU.”

Much of the anger early in the negotiations centered on what employees and their union saw as disproportionate benefits and other perks given to top management. The blame shifted to union leadership when workers recognized they were getting a raw deal, despite what anyone else might be getting, said Jeff Stoffel, a senior equipment operator.

“Right now we’re extremely unhappy,” said Stoffel, who is part of another bargaining unit. “I know people have been talking about going their own way.”

Monty Kroopkin, of SEIU Member Activists for Reform Today, said union leadership is misrepresenting the consequences if employees reject the offer. The county could impose only a 4 percent reduction if workers turn down the deal, not a 7 percent cut, he said.

Not only have union leaders changed their tune about the contract, Kroopkin said, but they’ve failed to follow up with members about their right to strike or how their health care coverage would be affected if action was authorized.

“The advantages to signing on aren’t there," he said.

The latest split can be traced to a vote to rescind a so-called agency shop provision in 2008. As a result, only about 40 of 240 workers remain dues-paying members of SEIU, Gutierrez said.

As a result, just 19 of 28 voted down the county’s initial offer, an unrepresentative figure, he said.

If the election to decertify is successful, he said, the newly minted group will ask the county to honor its initial offer.